GLOSSARY.md

Audio jargon glossary

Podscript borrows established sound-production terms. If you're not steeped in audio production, here's what they mean in plain language and how they map to the language. You never have to use the jargon — most terms have a plainer alias. The normative definitions live in SPEC.md; this is an informative reference.

Layout terms — the building blocks of a script

Production term	Plain meaning	In the DSL
Bed	A continuous background layer (music or ambience) that voices sit on top of.	bed (alias music)
Ambience / atmos / room tone	The quiet background "sound of a space" (café, rain, room hum) under a scene.	bed (alias ambience / atmos)
SFX	A one-shot sound effect that fires at a single moment (a whoosh, a click).	sfx
Stinger / sting	A very short musical accent used as punctuation between segments.	sfx (alias sting)
Bumper	A brief music/voice clip that bridges segments or ad breaks ("back in a sec…").	a short bed between scenes
Drop	A pre-made clip (a catchphrase, a listener voicemail) dropped in on cue.	sfx
Cold open	Content that plays before the intro/titles.	a scene (convention)
VO (voiceover)	Narration not tied to an on-scene character.	a speaker in voices

Mixing terms — how the layers combine

Production term	Plain meaning	In the DSL
Ducking	Automatically lowering one layer (music) while another (speech) plays, so the voice stays clear.	duck-under
Fade in / out	Gradually raising from / lowering to silence over a span of time.	fade-in / fade-out … over <dur>
Crossfade / segue	One bed fading out while the next fades in, overlapping — a smooth handover.	crossfade <dur>
Pot up / pot down / fade under	Old radio terms for raising/lowering a level (e.g. "pot the music down under the VO").	gain automation
Sweetening	Adding music/SFX/polish to a raw recording.	what the whole mix stage does
Headroom	The safety margin in dB left below digital clipping (0 dBFS).	renderer concern

Loudness terms — final delivery

Production term	Plain meaning	In the DSL
LUFS	The standard loudness measure for delivery. Podcasts target −16 LUFS.	meta: lufs
True peak (dBTP)	Peak level accounting for playback overshoot; kept below ~−1 to avoid distortion.	meta: true_peak
Normalize	Adjust a program to a target level (we use loudness normalization, to LUFS).	final render pass
dBFS vs dB	dBFS is absolute (0 = digital max); plain dB in gain clauses is relative attenuation.	gain -6db = 6 dB down

Voice / cleanup terms — handled by DSP presets

Production term	Plain meaning	In the DSL
Plosive / pop	The thump from "p"/"b" sounds.	tamed inside a preset
Sibilance / de-essing	Harsh "s" sounds, and the processing that softens them.	tamed inside a preset
Wet / dry	"Dry" = no effects; "wet" = with effects (reverb, EQ).	configured in a preset
Radio voice	The warm, compressed, EQ'd broadcast vocal tone.	a named preset